Electric meter



s. D. MOTT.

ELECTRIC METER.

(No Model.)

Patented Apr. 17

.M @mf M jf N. Firms, Pham-'..mogmphan wasnmgwn. u4 c.

Unirse STATES PATENT Ormea.

SAMUEL D. MOTT, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE SCHUYLER ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF MIDDLE- TOWN, CONNECTICUT.

ELECTRIC iVl TER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent. No. 381,480, dated April 1'7, 1888.

Application filed August 24, 1853. Serial No. 104,642. (No model.) Patented in England September 29, 1882, No, 4,646.

210 all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL D. Morr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Meters, (for which I have obtained Letters Patent of GreatBritain, September 29, 1882, No. 45616,) of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to instruments for recording or registering the flow of electric currents, and more especially to the class of such instruments heretofore patented to me, (United States Letters Patent No. 267,445,) in which a .I 5 register mechanism is driven bya constant power, and the retarding action of a retarding device forsuch power-driven mechanism is automatically adjusted by the varying strength of the current to be registered in such way that if 2o the current increase, the retarder will interpose less obstacle to the free movement of the power-driven mecha1iism,and said vmechanism willtherefore move faster, while, vice versa, if the current decrease, the retarder will he adjusted so as to lessen the movement of the power-driven mechanism in a given period of time.

My present invention consists in the combination, with a balance-wheel such as is used 3o with watches and clocks and aregister mechanism driven by a constant power, to which latter the. balance-wheel and its escapement are designed to act as a retarding device, of suitable means for adjusting the rate of oscillation of said balance-wheel,controlled by the action of the electric current to be registered. The most obvious and the usual method of adjusting or regulating the rate of oscillation of the balance-wheel is by shortening or length- 4c ening the hair-spring; but I do not limit myself to the employment of such means,and may employ other means known in the clock and watch maker-s art for this purpose.

To impart the required movement to the regulating or adjusting mechanism, an electromagnet, electric motor, or other device that will respond to variations in the current to be registered may be employed. The electromagnetic action of the current is the most reliable, and I therefore prefer to employ elec- 5o tro-magnets in some simpleform for adjusting the regulating devices of the balance-wheel.

In the preseutinstanceI employ a simple form ot' electro-magnetic motor traversed by the current to be registered, and connect said motor with the device by which the hair-spring ofthe balance is shortened or lengthened. A suitable retracting device is used in connection with the motor, and is so constructed or adj usted as to exert a greater retracting infiu- 6o ence as the strength of the motor increases with an increased current, so that the motor may assume a detinitejposition according to. the strength of current affecting it, and may hold the regulating device in one position so long as that strength of current continues.

For a retractor I prefer to employ a spiral or conical drum and a weight and cord, the cone or spiral of the drum being suitably formed,having regard to the various and wcll- 7o known conditions controlling thc rate of oscillation of the balance-Wheel, sothat the rate of movement of the register under the action ofthe constant driving-power shall be proportional to the strength of the current. however, employ a retracting-spring. As the range of adjustment of the hair-spring is large,

I also propose -to employ a peculiar device, whereby the stud or pin that shortens the hairspring may follow the convolutions of the same .So iu a spiral line. This device consists ofa slidepiece mounted on a revolving support, and carrying the adjusting stud or pin, in combination with a suitable device, whereby at every complete revolution of the support the 8 5 sliding piece may be moved radially inward or outward across the convolutions of the hairspring.

Having set forth the general principles of my invention, I will proceed to describe one 9o of the forms that the invention may' take in practice.

Figure l shows in detail the parts to which my present invention more particularly relates, the power-driven train, register, 85e., be- 95 ing omitted for the sake of simplicity. Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line x x of Fig. l.

Referring to Fig. 2, c indicates the balance- I may,

' ism driven by a constant power, said geartrain constituting itself the register, or serving to impart movement to a suitable registeringtrain in any proper manner, as is now well nnderstood in the art.

At 'Lt isindicatedthe usual hair-spring,which is embraced near one end by an encompassing pin or stud of any ordinary construction, (indicated at 9,) said pin serving, when adjusted in a circular line, to lengthen or shorten the hair-spring, and tothus vary the effective rate u of oscillation of the balance-*wheel and the consequent speedwith which ithe driving-power may move the register. The pin or stud 9 vis mounted upon a radiallymovable slide, 1.1, which is itself` suitably mounted on arotary support6, that mayy be `rotated by: means of a belt, 7, or otherwise, throughthe agency lof an electric motor, electro-magnets, or other suitable device responsive to changes in an electric current. The slide llis shown as having a longitudinal opening at its `central portionprovided with a rack, with which studs 16, mounted on a fixed standard, 3,.engage,-so that at every whole revolution of thesupport 6 the slide ll is moved backward or forward two teeth, or approximately a distance equal to the space between two convollutions of the hair-spring.

The belt 7 passes over a pulley-wheel, A, driven by an electric motor consisting, prefer'- ably, of an ordinary Gramme electro-magnetic motor, the eld-magnet of which latter is indicated at B. The armature-shaft of said motor is indicated at h; but the armature itself and the commutator are not seen,fbeingof.the ordinary construction andy hidden by a cogged disk, C, which serves to impart -movement to 'the wheel A.

`At Z is indicated a spiral retracting-spring l' connected at one end to the armature-shaft and will assist in returning the motor to a normal position when the current diminishes or ceases.` Said spring also serves as a means of opposing the motor, as it is operated by an increased current with a force increasing in proportion to the current. f

At n is indicated aretracting-weight ksupported by a cord that passes over. a spiral or conical drum upon vthe armature-shaft. This drum is so constructed or arranged that with an increased movement of the armature-shaft, owing to an increased current, the weight shall exert an increased retracting influence, proportionate, however, to the movement necessary to be given to the adjusting mechanism for the balance-wheel, in order to allowl an increased movement of the registeringl mechanism proportionate to such increased current. p Suitable stop mechanism is employed, so as to bring the gear-train to rest whenever current ceasesto flow in the electricmotor.l Such mechanism may be moved by. theA motor or other portion of the devices, and may be arranged so that when th-e parts come to rest or v to a position caused by the cessation of current thestop will be in the path .of a part, of the register mechanism, as in my prior pat,-

ent, so as to'bring said mechanism to rest. A

device suitable for this purpose consists of a stop-arm, B2, appliedto the belt 7, so as to be carried by said belt against the balance-wheel lv and stop the oscillation of the same when current is turned off, andthe retracting-weight reverses the movement.

`'Ihe general operation Vis as follows: When lno current is passing, theretractors for the motor hold the armature in such position that the stud 9 will be near the .end of the hairspring and the :latter will-be at its longest. When the current begins to iiow, the stop .is

-withdrawn vfrom the gear-train, and the motor `moves thestud 9 toa position corresponding tothe strength of current, and thus` determines the rate at which the balance-wheel shall oscillate and the registering mechanism shall be moved. With an increase or decrease vof the current the balance-wheel is corresponders might obviously be used in placev of a 'Gramme electric motor for imparting the desired movement to said regulating mechanism. Either one of theretracting devices here shown for the motor may be used-withoutthe other,

1 or other kinds of retractors may be employed.

`What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination, in an electric meter, of

-a balance-wheel, a mechanical adjusting or regulating mechanism that may-be set or adjusted to determine the natural rate of .vibration or oscillation of saidl balance-wheel;- and anelectro-responsive device such as anelectro-magnet placed in the circuit of the' current to be registered for setting or movingthe adjusting or regulating mechanismto a -point in its rangeof adjustment depending uponthe .strength of the electric current, as and for-the purpose described.

2. The combination,` substantially as 'described, of .a retarder Vconsisting of an ordinary f balance wheel Kand escapement, and means for lengthening or shortening the hair- .spring of the balance-wheel, controlled by the electric current to be registered.

3. The combination, as and for the purpose described, of the balance-wheel, the mechanism for regulating the length of the hair-spring, and electro-magnetic actuating devices' for voperating said regulating mechanism.

4. The combinatiomin an electric meter-,of a balance-wheel for a train of wheels, driven by a constant power and connected with or 6. The combination ofthe adjusting-stud 9, 15 mounted on asliding piece provided with rackbar, fixed studs for engaging With said raclrbar, and a rotating support for the sliding piece adjusted by mechanism controlled by variations in an electric current. 2o

Signed at NeWfYork, in the county of New York and Stat-e of New York, this 21st day of June, A.'D. 1883.

SAMUEL D. MOTT.

Vitnesses:

THos. TooMEY, M. M. FRIEND. 

